


In The Dark

by The_fandom_writer_ha



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Batman is a good Dad, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Hurt Dick Grayson, Hurt/Comfort, Ignored Dick Grayson, Implied Sexual Content, Injured Dick Grayson, M/M, Sorry Artemis, Wally ignores Dick, ignoring injuries, relationship drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:00:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24042487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_fandom_writer_ha/pseuds/The_fandom_writer_ha
Summary: Wally starts dating Artemis after their kiss on New Years. Robin feels like a third wheel, and also like he’s losing his best friend. Will Wally realize what’s happening between them before it’s too late?
Relationships: Birdflash, Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Wally West, Dick Grayson/Wally West, Kid Flash/Robin
Comments: 30
Kudos: 203





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I know some people are not going to like this fanfiction AT ALL and that’s okay, but I just really wanted to write this because I swear I’ve been through all of AO3 and haven’t seen any fanfiction like this. The closest two I saw were on fanfiction.net and they were unfinished and it just ripped my angst-craving heart in two. So, here it is. 
> 
> Yes, Artemis is going to be the "villain" in my birdflash story, but maybe… if it goes in a more romantic direction I’ll change it up and make sure she gets a happy ending, okay?
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own any characters from the Young Justice universe!

Robin beamed to the cave with hope in his heart and a grin on his face. Today was his day with Wally- Wally had promised him he wouldn’t make any plans and that it could just be the two of them and that they could do whatever with each other and it would be fun and awesome and amazing. He had promised, and Wally was rare to break his promises, especially to Dick. 

Recently, he had been seeing less and less of his red and yellow clad meta-friend. Ever since he had kissed Artemis on New Years and they had started dating, Wally had had to split time to make room for both of them. Dick understood that, of course he did. He was excited for his best friend and it was nice to see Wally happy with Artemis… but slowly it seemed less like Wally was splitting his time and more like he was omitting the time he used to spend with Robin or Dick in favor of his girlfriend.

Dick could understand that too. Of course Wally would want to spend time with his girlfriend, and Dick had even recognized that he wouldn’t be spending as much time with the speedster as normal, but he hadn’t predicted that the situation would devolve into him almost never getting a proper hangout with Wally anymore. Sure they had training together, and they texted when they could, but it wasn’t the same. 

That’s why Dick, currently Robin in civvies, was hopeful and excited for today. Wally should be at the cave already and getting ready for whatever they were gonna do- probably hit up the arcade and some of their favorite food joints. That was their normal hangout and honestly Dick was craving for just one day of normal with Wally again. 

Robin walked into the main lounge of the cave and spotted Wally on the couch. He was about to do a classic hop over the back so he could land next to his speedster friend, but then he saw smooth, blonde hair and a head resting on Wally’s shoulder. Oh. 

He mentally scratched the flip move and instead cleared his throat. “Hey guys” he said and walked, awkwardly, around to the other side of the couch, seeing Wally and Artemis snuggled up and whispering and giggling to each other. Ew. 

They both looked up at him. Wally had a surprised but happy smile on his face and Artemis had a typical glare… a typical glare to anyone who wasn't Robin, who had been picking up more and more negativity from the stares Artemis gave him each time he interrupted her time with Wally. 

“Hey Rob, what’s up?” Wally asked him as Artemis snuggled into his side a little more possessively. 

Robin smiled lightly, giving a glance over to Artemis before looking back towards Wally. “Nothing much. Planning on being late to our hangout thing? I was thinking arcade and pizza and you don’t seem ready” he said, because Wally didn’t look ready to go in the slightest and it made Dick’s heart drop some.

Wally’s face instantly paled and grew sheepish. “Oh… um…”

Artemis glared up at Wally. “You said you were going to take me to see the new romance-action movie tonight. We already bought the tickets” she reminded, her tone warning and her eyebrow raised.

Wally nodded dumbly and looked up at Robin. “We did already buy tickets… can we postpone? I swear I’ll make it up to you.”

And there it was. There was that phrase that Dick had hated hearing ever since Wally and Artemis got together. I swear I’ll make it up to you- Wally would say that every time he didn't answer the phone or video chat call, every time couldn’t hang out, every time he would cancel their plans at the last second. Every time Dick would get that phrase, and he hated it. 

Dick’s hope puffed into smoke, the grin fell from his face, but he tried not to let his hurt show. “Yeah, sure thing” he said, trying to hide his dejection as he walked away. 

“Thanks Rob, you’re the best!” Wally called out as he snuggled up back with his suddenly much happier girlfriend.

Dick didn’t miss the smug smirk on Artemis’ lips as she watched him leave. He didn’t miss the triumphant kiss she gave to Wally’s cheek. He didn’t call it out though, because Wally was happy and maybe if he tried hard enough that would be enough to make him happy too.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally starts dating Artemis, Robin feels like a third wheel, and also like he’s losing his best friend. Will Wally realize what’s happening between them before it’s too late?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own any characters from the Young Justice universe!

Wally hummed as Robin left the room. He wasn’t exactly happy about blowing Robin off like that, but Robin totally understood, he was sure. He kissed Artemis’ temple. “At some point you’re gonna have to share me again, you know that?” he said teasingly.

Artemis hummed. “Not if I can help it” she smirked. “You ready to go to the movie?”

Wally nodded, not thinking anything of her reply. “Yep, want me to zoom us there?” he asked.

Artemis scowled at him. “No, Wally, we’ve been over this. I don’t like doing that” she said.

Wally huffed and rolled his eyes. “Yeah yeah, it was still worth a shot” he smiled as he grabbed Artemis’ hand and led her through the zeta beam.

He didn’t know why Artemis didn’t like riding on his back at super-speed. Robin never had a problem with it… then again Robin really never had a problem with anything he did when it was something fun and probably stupid. He just chalked it up to some girl problem he didn’t understand. He’d text Robin about it later, see what he thought.

\----------  
_(A few hours later, at Wayne Manor.)_

__

__

Dick sighed as he dragged his eyes over the next line of text in his history textbook, not really comprehending it and knowing he’d probably have to read the whole page over again. He had been doing homework to distract himself from his best friend situation, but it was working less and less as time went on.

His attention was distracted as he received another incoming text from said best-friend. Dick would have been happy Wally was texting him, if the subject of conversation wasn’t Artemis and why she didn’t like riding at super-speed on Wally’s back. Recently more and more of their text conversations were long, paragraph texts from Wally either complaining or gushing over Artemis, followed by a one or two line response from Dick just so Wally didn’t think he was ignoring him.

Dick sighed as his phone beeped again and gripped his pencil tighter. He didn’t want to talk about this right now- he already felt a headache forming.

He picked up his phone and looked over the stream of texts Wally had sent complaining about Artemis. He huffed softly and rolled his eyes.

Dick: maybe she just doesn’t want to mess her hair up or something  
Dick: I can’t talk anymore right now, I’ve got a ton of homework and night-work later

Wally knew that ‘night-work’ was code for patrol with Batman. They never directly talked about hero work through their civilian phones, even if they were encrypted with bat-computer security.

Wally: no worries dude!  
Wally: maybe it is her hair though, girls are weird like that  
Wally: Sorry again about today! We’ll definitely hang sometime next week!  
Wally: catcha later

Dick didn’t bother responding to that. He was almost certain it wouldn’t happen. He turned his phone on silent and threw it on his bed, honestly not caring if it broke. He tried again to read through his history book with no luck before shutting the thing and going down to the cave. He’d train until nightly patrol, get some of his frustration out on the bars.

\----------  
_(2:37 am, somewhere in Gotham City)_

Robin jumped over another one of Poison Ivy’s vines, hearing the vixen scream in frustration. He cackled as he flipped and rolled closer and closer to the redhead herself, hearing Batman’s warning call behind him.

Poison Ivy had decided it would be fun to try and steal a new imported plant supply that was to be used for medical advancements in the Wayne Medical Center. Of course, the plant could also be used to make a number of deadly chemical weapons, so there was no way Batman and Robin could allow her to get a hold of it.

They were fighting Ivy in the greenhouse, because that’s where she had managed to lead the two heroes. Unfortunately the Wayne greenhouse had a wide variety of plants that Ivy was using to attack with, hence the poisonous vines that were swinging at Robin as he tried to get closer to the villain.

With Robin’s acrobatic and gymnastic skills, along with his admittedly smaller size, he was able to evade the vines with more ease than Batman could, which meant Robin was the one advancing for closer combat while Batman was left to try and protect him by cutting the vines as quick as he could.

With one last slide under a vine, he was close enough to throw a batarang at Ivy’s leg, causing her to jump to avoid it and making her lose concentration on controlling her vines. Robin took the opportunity to jump even closer, sending a kick to Ivy’s chest. She dodged, and the hero and villain engaged in hand-to-hand combat until Robin finally swept Ivy’s legs out from under her.

He followed her to the ground and pinned her, hard enough that she couldn’t lean up and kiss him with her poisonous lips. Ivy screamed in frustration and struggled beneath him. “You’ll pay for this! You’ll see!” she screeched. Robin managed to hold her down until Batman got close enough to fully secure her in handcuffs.

They stayed at the scene until Ivy was handed over the Chief Gordon and the rest of the police before disappearing into the night. He got a small lecture about confronting villains without proper planning once they returned back to the cave, but Batman had also praised him for neutralizing the threat as swiftly as he did without casualties. Dick left patrol in a better mood than he had gone in with, feeling proud of his work that night.

It wasn’t until Robin got to his room and in the shower that he noticed the injury. There were three mildly deep puncture wounds in the side of his upper left thigh, a little bigger than the size of thumbtack points. If he hadn’t felt the pain from the soap running over them he wouldn’t have noticed them at all. 

He suspected they were from Ivy’s vines. One had probably landed on him and nicked him when he was moving to fight her. They were so small that Dick didn’t feel the need to bring them to Batman or Alfred’s attention. Batman had already praised him for no casualties, he didn’t want to alter that. They’d be gone in a day, no harm done.

He should have known better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aren't cliffhangers great?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally starts dating Artemis, Robin feels like a third wheel, and also like he’s losing his best friend. Will Wally realize what’s happening between them before it’s too late?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own any characters from the Young Justice universe!

_(9:05 am, Gotham Academy)_

Dick was starting to rethink his decision about not bringing attention to his injury. He sat in his class, his right leg bouncing with nervous energy as he tried to focus on what his advanced physics teacher was saying, but he was constantly distracted by the heartbeat-like throbbing that was occurring through this left thigh. Maybe those three points hadn’t just been a wound from one of Ivy’s vines, maybe they were injection points. 

And wouldn’t that just be great, if Dick did have some crazy plant toxic spreading through him, because it would mean he had failed last night and Batman would be disappointed that he 1. hadn’t mentioned the wound earlier and 2. had allowed himself to be injured in the first place. 

Dick sighed softly and wrote down more notes. The only thing he could possibly do right now was text Bruce, but he knew if he did that it would cause trouble with the school. Dick had recently been told that he had too many early dismissals and absences on his record, and that if he missed any more school days he might have to take summer school or even retake the grade. Dick thought it was stupid, because despite the missing days he had straight As in all of his classes, and high As at that, but the school said it was a city-wide policy on how many school days had to be attended, and that without serious excuses there could be no be exceptions. Of course, the school didn’t know the real, heroic reasons behind those absences and tardies, Bruce and himself had had to come up with alternate stories, so Dick had had to simply acknowledge that he understood and promise he wouldn’t miss anymore school. 

If he texted Bruce, he would want to pull him out of school to check on him, therefore it wasn’t really an option, especially since he hadn’t told Bruce about his attendance problem yet. That left Dick where he was now- sitting in class, one leg bouncing up and down while the other dully throbbed.

\----------  
_(2:00 pm, Keystone High School)_

As Wally West waited for the clock to count down to his freedom from school, he couldn’t help but let his mind wander and reflect on what happened yesterday with his best friend. He felt bad about blowing Dick off, but last night he also remembered that he hadn’t just made a commitment to Dick, he had promised him they would have a hang-out day, and Wally had broken that promise. Wally prided himself on being someone who didn’t break promises, and now he’d broken one to someone closest to him.

His lip twitched downward and he looked at the clock again. 2:03 pm. Two minutes to go. He whipped out his phone and sent a text.

_Wally: Hey dude, I meant it about making it up to you. I’m free today. Want me to swing by and get you? We can have our official bro-day!_

Wally had looked over the text again and set his phone down on his desk, but it beeped two seconds later. Wally raised an amused eyebrow and picked it up again.

_Dick: Sure! Meet at the normal spot?_

_Wally: Sounds good! See you soon!_

Eight minutes later Wally had run to Gotham, stopping two blocks away from Gotham Academy in an alley right next to a quaint pizza shop on the corner. He leaned against it, munching on a slice of pizza for fuel as he waited for his bird-brained friend to arrive. It didn’t take long. Wally waved a hand out to Dick as he came half-jogging down the sidewalk. “Hey bro, ready to ride?” he asked as he swallowed down the final bite of pizza.

Dick beamed at him with a smile that could outshine the sun. “Heck yeah! I haven’t done this in forever!” he said excitedly, bouncing on his feet. 

Wally couldn't help but notice the difference between Dick and Artemis, and also realize that it really had been a while since Dick had ridden on his back. “Where’s your backpack?”

Dick rolled his eyes. “I gave it to Alfred. He was waiting to take me home but I told him I was going to hang out with you, so no worries. Now come on, let’s go!”

And with that, Wally braced himself for the bird to jump on his back, then shot off into the distance. He heard Dick’s excited laugh as they raced out of Gotham into Central City, their main hangout spot, unable to help his own smile at how happy Dick was. 

They spent the whole day hitting all of their favorite spots, from the arcade to their favorite ice cream place to the park, they did it all and Wally realized that this was the best day he’d had in a while. He was genuinely happy with Dick just doing what they always did, and he kept asking himself why they hadn’t done this is what seemed like a lifetime.

Of course, the answer his brain kept supplying was Artemis. Artemis was the reason he hadn’t been hanging out with Dick. She always wanted to go to the newest movie, or take Wally on romantic walks, or make out with him. Not that those things weren’t nice, they just weren’t as awesome as running around Central with Dick. 

The two ended up at his Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris’ apartment up in the spare room that had become Wally’s room for when he was in Central. They were catching up on all the video games they hadn’t played, throwing out competitive jabs and consistently hitting each other with pillows when it was deemed necessary. It was almost 8:00 pm when Wally heard a small, unpleasant grunt from his friend beside him, and that’s when he noticed that Dick didn’t look okay. 

His friend’s skin was shiny, like he was sweating even though he was sitting still and not exerting himself. His cheeks were flushed, his hands were shaking, and his right leg was trembling. Wally paused the game and jumped up in alarm. “Dude! What’s wrong with you?” he asked frantically. 

Dick took in a small breath, and Wally noticed that Dick’s breathing had become short and labored, like he was shallowly panting. “Nothing, I’m fine. Let’s just keep playing” he asked, almost begging. 

Wally shook his head. “No way dude, you look totally not-fine. Either tell me what’s wrong or I’m gonna go get Barry and Iris and tell them to contact the B-man” he warned. 

Dick released a shaky breath and looked down, like he was ashamed of something. “I...Last night, we were fighting Poison Ivy, I didn’t notice anything until later...” he said and lifted his hips up, tentatively sliding his pants down enough for Wally to see three big black dots the size of quarters on Dick’s thigh. Black jagged lines were flowing out from the dots, seemingly following the pattern of Dick’s veins.

Wally gaped at the wound, ready to chew his friend out for not _saying anything_ about this, but when he looked up at Dick’s face he saw that it showed shock and confusion. Dick’s eyebrows were furrowed together in concern. “It didn’t look like that before, they were just three pricks, I swear” he said.

Wally’s face grew angry and concerned. “Dude, you still should have _said_ something. That looks _bad_. We’re going to the B-cave, right now!” he ordered, already grabbing his goggles for running. 

Dick nodded and pulled his pants up again, hesitantly standing and waiting for Wally. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. 

Wally sighed, tying his shoes. “It’s fine, we just gotta get you to B and Agent A, we’ll fix you up” Wally said confidently, knowing he needed to stay traught for Dick’s sake, as said friend would say.

Dick seemed to depress. “I meant I’m sorry for ruining our hang-out session. I thought I’d be fine, I just...” he explained but trailed off.

Wally looked at him incredulously. Dick was apologizing for ruining the hangout session? Why on Earth would he care more about that than the fact that he could be in real danger? “Dude, I could honestly care less about that. I just wanna make sure you’re okay” he said, hoping to comfort Dick.

Somehow, his words seemed to have the opposite effect and Dick’s expression saddened even more. “Right, let’s go.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally starts dating Artemis, Robin feels like a third wheel, and also like he’s losing his best friend. Will Wally realize what’s happening between them before it’s too late?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own any characters from the Young Justice universe!

_(8:47 pm, The Batcave)_

Dick laid on the hospital cot sweating and panting as he tried to focus on the cave’s ceiling. His vision was getting blurry and he didn’t like it. His hearing was fine though, and around him he heard three distinct voices: Alfred, Bruce, and Wally. Alfred was by his side, calling out reports of his condition to Bruce, who would respond with updates on his research on how to fix him, and be interrupted by Wally either suggesting something they do or expressing his encouragement to Dick that everything would be okay. 

Dick was surprised that Bruce was letting Wally stay, but Bruce begrudgingly recognized that, despite Wally’s goofy nature, the redhead had a love for science, particularly chemistry, and could be helpful in creating an antitoxin for whatever was flowing through Dick’s veins. Dick was pretty sure Wally would have put up a fight to stay even if he hadn’t been deemed useful by Bruce, and Dick would have fought with him.

Despite that fact that he felt like he had the worst case of the flu ever, Dick felt fine, and he couldn’t help his mind from recognizing that right now, Wally was completely focused on _him_. Wally’s sole focus was making sure he was okay, and Dick’s more selfish side basked in that knowledge 

That was why he had decided to ignore his injury in the first place after all, because Wally wanted to hang out with him, and that hadn’t happened in so long that Dick just couldn’t pass it up. 

He blinked and refocused as he thought he heard someone call his name. “Hmm?” he hummed lazily, rolling his head to the side to look at his red headed friend. 

Wally was looking down at him. “I asked how you were doing,” he apparently repeated, his expression concerned. 

Dick couldn't help a smirk. “I’m perfectly whelmed,” he said cheekily. 

Wally groaned and rolled his eyes, his demeanor relaxing slightly. “Why do I even bother asking?” he joked.

Dick gave a half shrug, letting a natural beat of silence pass between them. “How’s the research?” he asked. 

Wally hummed. “You got lucky that the plant you got pricked by was in the Wayne Greenhouse, but we think the toxins were amplified by whatever control Poison Ivy had over it. That’s the part we’re trying to figure out” he explained, running a hand through his orange hair.

Dick hummed in acknowledgement. “Thanks for trying to save my life” he said with a hint of playfulness to his tone.

Wally looked down at him and smiled. “Anytime, though I hope I don’t have to do it again for a while” he chuckled. 

Dick nodded in agreement to that. “Are we gonna reschedule our bro-day? I don’t think me ending up on a cot is a good end to it, so maybe a redo is in order?” he asked curiously.

Wally laughed. “For sure, since you obviously care enough about it to risk having a toxin run through your veins” he huffed. “I still don’t get why you did that” he grumbled.

Dick, in his hazy mindset, had a weaker emotional wall than he normally would have had, so he spoke before really thinking about what he was saying. “I missed you” he answered simply. “Didn’t know when you were going to have time for me again.”

He recognized how Wally seemed to freeze up at those words and saw how Wally looked over him, inspecting him. “Oh” was all the redhead said, shifting awkwardly next to him. “I’m gonna go look over the research again” he said, not replying to Dick’s words.

Dick nodded. “Good luck” he answered before rolling over, away from Wally. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on the feel of his body so he could give Alfred a report when he came over. 

Wally walked back over to where Bruce was looking over his computer screen. He mentally sighed in disappointment directed at himself. In a way, he realized this was his fault. He had ignored his best friend so much that Dick had been willing to ignore his own injury just to hang out with him. God, that sounded so awful in his head.

“He trusts you” a deep, gravelly voice that belonged to Bruce suddenly said. 

Wally looked at him, confusion written over his face. “What?”

Bruce glanced at him. “He trusts you” he repeated, looking over Wally. 

Wally nodded. “I know he does,” he said, glancing back at Dick who was being looked over by Alfred.

“Don’t make him regret it” Bruce added, causing Wally to look back at the Dark Knight. They were such simple words, but Wally took them straight to heart. Dick had trusted _him_. He was the only person outside the Bat-Family and select members of the Justice League who knew the Boy Wonder’s identity. He was the only one Dick trusted with every part of him, the only person Dick’s age who Dick _could_ trust. Wally remembered how honored he had been when Dick had told him his identity, how precious that trust and loyalty had been between them, and now Wally saw how he had let that slip out of his view.

“I won’t” he answered, a new resolve in place. Dick and him had a bond for life. Wally didn’t plan to lose sight of that again.

Bruce gave him a curt nod, obviously seeing the change in the young meta-human. “Good.”

The two worked for a while longer, sorting through different possibilities on how to make the antitoxin. Finally, they determined a solution and got to work mixing the chemicals they would need. Dick’s whole left leg was decorated in black lines, but thankfully it hadn’t seemed to spread upwards, meaning injecting the antitoxin would hopefully be simple. 

As they were mixing a solution, Wally’s phone went off with an incoming call. Wally glanced at Bruce, asking if it was okay for him to take it. Bruce nodded at him and looked to Alfred, who walked over to take Wally’s place. Wally sped over to his phone and answered without looking at the I.D. “Hello?”

 _“Hey Wally, where are you? You didn’t tell me you wouldn’t be at training tonight”_ answered an annoyed sounding Artemis.

Wally cringed, looking over at the time. He found he had missed training, him and Rob both obviously. “Yeah, sorry, something important came up with Rob.”

 _“You’re with Robin, and you didn’t bother to think your girlfriend would want to know that, especially since you basically blew me off?”_ she asked, her voice sounding harsh.

Wally furrowed his brows. “No, because I figured my girlfriend would be understanding about me-time, especially if I’m giving some of my time to my best friend” he said, his own voice getting annoyed. What was with her today?

 _“Well maybe you thought wrong. If you want to be with me, I want to know where you are, especially if you’re with Robin”_ she said clearly.

Wally’s expression grew more confused, almost offended. “What is your problem with Rob?” he asked. 

He swore he could hear her snear. _“You’re **my** boyfriend Wally, and Robin’s always trying to steal all your time”_ she said.

Wally did a double-take. “You’re saying you’re jealous of Robin?” he asked.

 _“Yeah, is that so wrong?”_ she asked.

Wally took a second to think. Was it wrong for Artemis to be jealous of Robin? Robin, who hadn’t said anything when Wally constantly blew him off to hang out with Artemis, who had patiently listened to Wally talk about Artemis every time they texted or called, who had still been excited to hang out with him even after everything Wally had done to him? Was it wrong for Artemis to be jealous of him spending one afternoon with Robin and not telling her about it?

“Yeah, you know what, it is, because Rob’s been super cool about me dating you, and I took advantage of that because I _thought_ you made me happy and Robin would understand that. But you know what, if you get this upset because I give one afternoon to him and don’t tell you, then I’ve obviously made a mistake in dating you” he said and hung up without waiting for an answer. He released an angry breath through his nose and stalked back over to the table. “Let’s finish this antidote.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally starts dating Artemis, Robin feels like a third wheel, and also like he’s losing his best friend. Will Wally realize what’s happening between them before it’s too late?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own any characters from the Young Justice universe!

Two days later found Dick in his bed, the black in his leg almost gone. He looked significantly better, no longer seemingly dying from the flu. Dick found, when he returned to a conscious state, that a lot had happened while he had been out recovering.

The school had called Wayne Manor, the principal informing Alfred of Dick’s attendance situation and wondering why he hadn’t been in school. This prompted Bruce to go up to the school himself and figure out exactly what was going on. Dick had been told, when he woke up and confessed his problems with school attendance in a panic to Bruce, that he didn’t have to worry about his attendance anymore, as apparently Bruce had taken this dispute to higher levels, explaining that Dick Grayson was the victim of several kidnappings that the school had not taken into consideration as ‘severe absences’. The school board recognized the mistake and made proper adjustments to his record to ensure Dick had a little more leeway in his attendance because of his victim-like circumstance. 

Bruce had also gone over another lecture about the importance of _always_ reporting injuries, no matter how small Dick thought they were. This led to another confession that Dick had been worried about disappointing Bruce because he had been proud that there were no casualties. Bruce had sighed, realizing his mistake in praising such a thing, and promised Dick he was still proud of his defeat of Poison Ivy that night. He urged that Dick never hide an injury again, and that he would never be disappointed as long as Dick took every precaution he could to stay safe. Dick had agreed to never let something like this happen again, giving Bruce a relieved smile. 

Wally had been by once every day after he got out of school to check up on him. The protégé of the World’s Greatest Detective had quickly noticed something off with his best friend, but he tried to give Wally time to come forward and bring it up himself in the past two days. He hadn’t, and now Dick felt it was appropriate to ask. 

He sat up in his bed as he heard a familiar knock on his door. “Come in,” he called out.

Wally opened the door and slipped in, smiling brightly, but Dick could see something wrong behind it. “Hey dude, how are you feeling?” Wally asked as he walked over, grabbing the chair by Dick’s desk and swinging it around to place it next to Dick’s bed. He set it down backwards and sat in it with his legs straddling the base, resting his arms on top of it and holding his head in his hands.

Dick smiled and shrugged. “Feeling better. Still waiting for Alfred to let me out of bed” he chuckled.

Wally laughed along with him. “He’ll release you when he’s certain you won't hurt yourself when you go running downstairs to your bird nest in the cave, cause he knows if he releases you before you’re 100 percent better then you’ll probably end up hurting yourself by ignoring his rules about taking it easy” he pointed out knowingly. 

Dick gaped at Wally in surprise before his expression grew mock-offended. “Who’s side are you on, dude?” he asked and threw one of his pillows at Wally. He knew Wally was right of course. As soon as he was allowed he was running right down to his bird nest- the name given to the collection of ropes, bars, and rings that were attached to the ceiling of the Batcave, but Wally didn’t need to call him out like that.

Wally caught the pillow thrown at him and smirked, putting it in front of him to act as a barrier between him and the chair. “I’m on the side of you recovering properly, which just happens to align with Alfred’s side” he teased.

Dick huffed and rolled his eyes. “I guess that’s fair,” he grumbled. He shifted in his bed to sit up more. “Hey, I wanted to ask, what’s going on with you?”

Wally raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Dick gave him a deadpan look. “Come on, I’m your best friend and partner to the World’s Greatest Detective. I know when something's bothering you. Spill,” he prompted.

Wally sighed, looking down as if he was thinking over his words. “It’s Artemis…” he started.

Dick tried not to let his body deflate or let his expression look put-off by the topic. 

Wally paused, and Dick was certain he’d failed on some level of concealing his emotions. “...we’re fighting.” 

Dick raised an eyebrow, his attention regained. Wally and Artemis had disagreements all the time, but this seemed different. “Oh, what about?”

Wally was still looking over him like he was scanning him for details. “You.”

Dick startled back like something had almost hit him in the face. His face morphed into one of confusion. “What? What do you mean?”

Wally’s expression was neutral, which surprised Dick. Wally was normally very expressive. “She doesn’t like that I hang out with you,” he said simply.

Dick felt his heart sink to his stomach. What? He’d barely spent time with Wally since he started dating Artemis, and Artemis was still mad? Dick swallowed thickly. “Oh.”

Wally nodded. “Yeah” he said, not saying anything more. Dick had a feeling he was waiting to hear what he had to say about it.

He looked down at the sheets, wading through his thoughts. Wally was happy with Artemis, and if Artemis really wanted Wally all to herself, well, he didn’t want to be the reason his best friend wasn’t happy. “Well, if that’s what she wants, and you still want to be with her… then it’s okay, I understand” he said softly.

Wally’s expression finally shifted, looking at him curiously. “Really? Why?” he asked.

Dick let a small, sad smile fall on his face as he looked up at Wally. “If she makes you happy, then I don’t want to be in the way of that. I’ll be okay as long as you’re happy” he explained, his words heartfelt and honest. 

Wally’s eyes widened slightly. He gave a couple slow nods before pulling out his phone, hitting a few things, and then holding it up to his ear. “Hey, Artemis, this isn’t going to work. We’re breaking up. Sorry” he said before bringing the phone back down and hanging up.

Dick’s jaw dropped. “What- what, why did you do that?” he asked incredulously.

Wally smiled softly at Dick. “I asked Artemis the other day what she would do if I refused her condition of not seeing you. She said she’d break up with me. I figure I’d save her the trouble” he shrugged. 

Dick’s mouth was still open in shock. He realized this and quickly snapped it shut, wincing at the contact of his teeth smashing together. He furrowed his brows and looked at Wally hesitantly after he had taken a moment to process what just happened. “So… what does this mean?” he asked.

Wally looked at him seriously. “It means, I’m never letting anyone else get between my relationship with my best bro, capeesh? You’re way more important to me than a bad relationship” he said.

Dick took those words in, nodding slowly. “Thank you” he said, smiling shyly at Wally.

Wally smiled back. “No problem bro. And hey, as soon as you’re back on your feet, we’ll finally have a proper bro-day, just you and me.”


	6. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally starts dating Artemis, Robin feels like a third wheel, and also like he’s losing his best friend. Will Wally realize what’s happening between them before it’s too late?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I marked this fanfiction as mature basically because of this chapter... but I couldn't resist.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own any characters from the Young Justice universe!

_(3 years later, Bludhaven)_

Dick walked into their quaint little apartment, setting his keys down in the bowl next to the door and hanging his jacket on the rack next to it. He removed his belt that held his gun and holster and set that inside the cabinet of the thin dresser that supported the bowl of keys, knowing it was safest to take it off at the door. 

“Babe, is that you?” a voice called from the kitchen. Dick was suddenly hit with the smell of something savory coming from that direction and he hummed in interest. 

“Yeah, it's me Walls. Whatcha cooking?” he called back.

“Something with chicken, I don’t remember what it’s called. You’ll like it though” Wally answered. 

Dick smiled and made his way towards the kitchen. He was met with the familiar sight of his boyfriend zipping from place to place in their small kitchen, trying to keep track of too many things at once. “Need some help?” he asked. 

Wally looked at him and smiled, zipping over and placing a kiss on his cheek before going back to work. “Nope, you’ll ruin my zen. Just go get changed. I’ll call when it's ready.”

Dick rolled his eyes and chuckled. “Yes sir” he said sarcastically and headed off to their bedroom. He stripped out of his police uniform, hanging up some parts and throwing others in the hamper. He noticed Wally’s clothes on the floor and picked them up as well, putting them where they were supposed to go. He’d stopped trying to fix that habit of Wally’s a while ago. 

He sat down at his desk in the corner of the room and started going through various files, both Officer Grayson and Nightwing related, until he heard Wally’s call for dinner. He stood and made his way back to the kitchen sitting down at the set table. 

Wally sat down next to him, waiting for Dick to serve himself before he reached for anything. “How was work?” he asked.

Dick gave himself a reasonable serving before relenting the food over to his black hole of a boyfriend. “Same as always, dealing with corrupt criminals and corrupt cops” he sighed. “How about you? Did you meet up with Artemis today?” he asked, knowing Wally had had plans to do so.

Wally nodded. “Work was fine, and I did. She met me right outside the building and we went to lunch” he said. Wally was working at a forensic lab in Central City. 

Dick nodded. “And?” he prompted. He knew Wally and Artemis had fallen out hard after their breakup so long ago. It was later revealed that Artemis was being threatened by her father, Sportsmaster, and sister, Cheshire, to betray the Young Justice team, and specifically hand over Robin. They’d foiled their plans and Artemis was placed under League protection, but Wally and Artemis had never really talked about it afterwards. 

“It went…okay” Wally said with a shrug. “I don’t know. I mean, I get why she did it. She cared about me and she didn’t want me close to you because she didn’t want me getting hurt, but I still just… it's hard to get over that she hurt our relationship so much. She apologized of course, said she hoped we could be friends and all. I told her maybe in the future, but that I still needed time. When we were dating, I cared about her too, you know? And to think she was under threat from her family while I was with her and I didn’t know, and then still thinking that she just really hated you for so long after that...” he sighed. “It’s just a lot.”

Dick smiled sadly and reached over, grabbing Wally’s hand. “I know it is, but it’s good that you two talked. Now nothings under the rug. You’ll both be able to process everything better now that it’s out in the open” he reassured. 

Wally nodded. “Yeah, I know you’re right,” he smiled. “We’re staying in tonight right?” he asked. 

Dick nodded, humming. “Yep. We’ll be all alone, just you and me” he said, a teasing pinch in his voice. 

Wally stilled slightly, looking at Dick with wide eyes. Dick heard his boyfriend swallow thickly. “Just you and me?” Wally knew what that meant. 

Dick smirked, swallowing his bite of food. “Yep. Maybe… if you’re good, I’ll wear that thing you like, the leather one?” he suggested, looking to the side suggestively.

Wally took a sharp breath in. “ _Oh_ ” he said shakily. 

Dick shrugged. “Well, actually, I might already be wearing it,” he said, shifting in his seat.

Wally’s jaw dropped, looking over his boyfriend’s sweatpants and t-shirt and wishing he had x-ray vision. “You _didn’t_.”

Dick laughed and looked up at the ceiling, somehow taking a suggestive sip of water. “I said I might. You can find out after dinner.”

Wally groaned. “Dick Grayson, you’re going to be the end of me” he sighed and reluctantly continued eating at a normal pace, knowing eating faster would only make Dick eat slower.

Dick chuckled fondly. “I’m completely okay with that” he smirked, continuing to eat and looking forward to spending the rest of the night with his amazing boyfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End.
> 
> Thank you for reading this to completion! It means so much to me to know that people enjoy my work!


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